BURNT HILLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) – It’s National Donut Day and the Salvation Army is celebrating by handing out donuts to veterans. The effort was made possible by donations.

They still hand sugar the apple cider donuts at Fo’Castle. On Friday they made 12 dozen to donate to veterans on National Donut Day.

NEWS10 started mixing the dough at Fo’Castle around 5 a.m. From there, owner Glenn Hogue loaded up the maker.

“This donut is made on a donut robot mark five. And when she’s working well, she can produce about 20 dozen donuts an hour,” said Glenn Hogue.

Helping hand-sugar the donuts, former Minnesota Viking Bob Reed, who is on the local Saratoga and Regional Boards of the Salvation Army.

“You can’t say enough with what veterans have done. My son is in the marines; my brother was in the air force,” said Reed.

Reed also served in the army for six months while playing for the Vikings and his grandfather was in WWI when Donut Day got its start as Salvation Army volunteers would cook donuts in helmets.

“You think about it who’s making the recipe, they are going out there, bullets are flying and they are making it happen. Everybody steps up one way or another,” Reed said. ”They would take the soldiers helmets and at the front lines of the war and mix the donut batter there in it and then literally fry donuts in the soldier’s helmets,” he continued.

Major Roger Duperree with the Salvation Army shared history about the so called donut lassies as they loaded up donated donuts to take to veterans.

NEWS10 also stopped by the Dunkin Donuts in East Greenbush where they donated donuts. From there, veterans got a sweet thank you at the VA Hospital in Albany.

Other organizations throughout the region also donated, allowing the Salvation Army to hand out more than 600 donuts at various locations.